A sales plan helps to focus a company on reaching its revenue goals.
A sales plan should contain:
- broadly defined sales goals (either expressed as a percentage of growth, a revenue figure or both)
- specific sales targets
- how sales will be made
- to whom sales will be made
- timeframes
- who will be responsible for making the sales.
A sales plan should be very action orientated and specifically define who is going to do what, when. While longer term goals can be stated, sales plans are generally more short term in nature so they can be easily monitored and updated.
The sales plan should be linked to the marketing plan to ensure a flow-on from one to the other.
Remember, it is more expensive to gain a new client than retain an old one. Therefore make sure your sales plan is not just targeted at new prospects, but takes into account retaining past and current clients. This can include customer loyalty programs, special discounts, client visits or additional service offerings.